The CheckerBoard

I know that some on here have criticized Pearl during his time at Tennessee for playing favorites with some of his star players during his time here at Tennessee. I was listening to him the other day on his satellite radio show and I thought he made a pretty good defense of that although he did not specifically reference himself at Tennessee. He said that in today's college basketball atmosphere that he feels you have to treat some players differently. When you get a one-and-done type, they know that they are 9 months from being a millionaire and their outlook on things is completely different from someone who intends to stay 4 years. Getting through to them is different and so coaching them is different. The one-and-done guy has very simple goals - take the easiest and least amount of courses to stay eligible, play as much basketball as he can so he can improve his game and draft position and don't get injured.

I'm not sure I agree with all of that but I thought it was an interesting perspective.